


Flat Whites and Coffee Breaks

by LyraNgalia



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraNgalia/pseuds/LyraNgalia
Summary: Modern day Yennefer is a high powered corporate lawyer bored with the routines of her job. Things change, however, when she walks into Starbucks during her usual coffee break...
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 29
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paradox_siren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paradox_siren/gifts).



> For Paradox_Siren, one of my very best friends, on the occasion of her birth.

There was a certain thrum in the air of a Starbucks at 3pm. A certain frenzied rush as the corporate types (like herself) came in cranky for their afternoon fix, the baristas girding themselves for the rush. Yennefer held herself apart from it all, skimming her phone to check the brief she'd prepared for her client (which he wouldn't read the lazy bastard), and waited for her drink order.

"Jennifer?" the redheaded barista with a truly unfortunate nose piercing yelled as politely as was possible over the whirling of the espresso machine. "Jennifer? I've got a grande flat white for Jennifer!!!"

Yennefer sighed, slipped her phone back into her purse, and took the drink from the bar with a scowl. It didn't matter how often she showed up, what specialty app she used, if she spelled her name out for the moron writing it down.

They never got it right.

As she walked out of the Starbucks and back to her corner office, Yennefer sipped her drink and winced at the foamy milk that hit her tongue. Another latte masquerading as a flat white.

They never got that right either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Corporate law was not terribly exciting, but it was terribly prestigious, and Yennefer enjoyed the prestige and the trappings it gained her. It also came with a junior lawyer who insisted on routine, and chivvyed Yennefer out of her office at precisely 2:50 every afternoon for a coffee break.

Today was no different, Triss all but chasing her out the door. Sometimes Yennefer wondered if it was a method of self-preservation for the other woman; she knew she was driven, difficult, and the afternoon crunch made her downright terrifying. So Yennefer allowed the distraction, allowed the suggestion she head down for a break while Triss either broke down and cried or took her own breather.

Yennefer walked down to the Starbucks across the street, same as she normally did, and was surprised when the familiar chaotic thrum of the coffee shop did not hit her. Today, the Starbucks felt almost... calm, brisk in its movement. Yennefer arched an eyebrow, curious, as she got in line. Something was different, but she wasn't sure what.

What was different became clear soon enough as she made it to the front of the line. A new barista took up most of the counter, the green apron all but straining against his torso. He was certainly different, with silver-white hair tied back in an efficient ponytail, moving with the same brisk efficiency as he took orders, slid cups along the rail, and finished off said drinks. That at least explained the lack of chaos. The lack of noise... well, the new guy looked imposing. Yennefer herself wasn't terribly cowed by a barista of all people, but he was physically imposing. She'd give him that.

"Name?" 

She blinked at the brisk question. No small talk. She liked that. "Yennefer. Grande flat white."

He looked up, blinked brown eyes so light they appeared gold, and nodded. A scribble on the cup. "Five twenty-seven." 

A routine swipe of her credit card, a nod. His expression did not change, and she retreated to the bar to wait. That was pleasantly efficient. No too-chipper barista trying to suggest she try something new, or making a comment about the designer purse she carried that exuded just the _right_ amount of wealth and sophistication to be taken seriously by her clients. 

She did not have to wait long. "Yen?" The silver haired barista didn't even need to yell, his low rumble cut through the chatter like a knife through butter. "Grande flat white for Yennefer."

_That_ surprised her. Yennefer approached the bar and there it was, the cup with her name properly written on it. A small pleased smile touched her lips as she picked it up. "Thanks."

And for the first time since she had been watching the new barista, he stumbled, catching himself with the bar towel as he nearly lost his grip on a carton of oat milk. "Um yeah. Enjoy."

That deepened her smile and Yennefer gestured her cup at him before turning and heading back to her office. "Have a nice day." She took a sip as she walked out of the coffee shop and blinked in surprise.

He managed to make her a real flat white.


	2. A Dash of Cinnamon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took less than 2 weeks for the presence of the new taciturn barista to settle into Yennefer's routine...

It took less than 2 weeks for the presence of the new taciturn barista to settle into Yennefer's routine. It did not escape Triss' notice that she no longer had to badger Yennefer to take a break, that at precisely 2:45pm on the dot, the lawyer would stand, would set aside whatever phone call was the subject of her ire, and announce she needed coffee. 

Which was precisely where she was now, at precisely 2:50pm walking into the Starbucks, and just like clockwork, the silver-haired barista at the bar looked up at that exact moment with the half-twitch of his lip that she had come to realize was a smile of greeting.

The cup with her name written on it already stood waiting at his elbow, and before she even had to open her mouth, Geralt had picked it up, and arched an eyebrow in expectation. "Extra shots today?"

Yennefer caught herself smiling in response. There was something about him, probably the efficiency, the fact that he neither tried to engage her in pointless sales tactics nor overtly quaked in incoherent terror at the sight of her, that coaxed the genuine smile, the genuine enjoyment out of her. Perhaps it was the flat white itself. It was definitely not the fact that he managed to convey a multitude of expressions with a handful of words and an expressively curved lip.

"Not today. Court went well," she answered. He finished scrawling on the cup and arched an eyebrow expectantly. "Not the Murdock case. That one's still a pain in my ass, and the sooner my client gets his head out of his, the better." She paid quickly and stepped away. There was no one else waiting, so she did not step away to the other end of the bar, instead watching him work as she ran a hand through her hair. "It'd be easier if he would _leave fucking Italy_ to do business but no, I'm having to send everything during business hours over there and I swear, if tries to 'invite the beautiful woman lawyer' to visit his villa one more time I'm going to have his assets frozen."

Geralt grunted, his displeasure at the subject of her ire apparent in the wrinkle of his brow, but said nothing about either her or the client in question, simply continued foaming the milk. Yennefer had to admit she liked watching him work, there was a steadiness, a skilled competence to his movements and dexterity to his hands and fingers that was unlike most of the baristas who covered up their incompetence with chatter and vanilla syrup, and she liked competence.

The faint pleased smile lingered at the corner of her mouth as she watched him add the steamed 'microfoam' to the cup, and add a sprinkle of cinnamon. That was not a usual part of the drink but she'd let him experiment last week and found she liked the addition. Now he added it without asking. Another minute of silence, and he slid the completed drink over with that same small half smile. 

She reached for the drink out of habit, and her fingers brushed his for a fleeting moment as she took the drink. "See you tomorrow, Yen," he said spontaneously.

Yennefer smiled and took a sip, letting the faint cinnamon and milk fragrance curl up her nose. "I'll see you tomorrow, Geralt."


	3. The Secret Menu

The Murdock case had been the bane of Yennefer's existence for upwards of two months, and she was looking forward to being done with it. It should have, on the face of it, been an easy open and shut case. Her client, a wealthy businessman from Italy with an eye on "urban revitalization", had wanted to buy the Murdock building, a historical but somewhat dilapidated building near the warehouse district and offered buyouts for the tenants currently inhabiting it. The plan had been to renovate the building, leaving its "historical charm" while upgrading the interior for luxury apartments and miscellaneous business. The current tenants had jumped at the buyout as a chance to escape the building's leaky roof and crumbling brick facade, all except one, a stubborn old man running a martial arts studio.

It should have been an easy case, an easy solution in which promises of a spot in the renovated building and an increased payout solved the issue, but the old man had somehow lawyered up and found a grandfathered clause in the building code that meant instead of throwing money at the problem and charging her client for staring at her cleavage, Yennefer was now having to go to arbitration and argue against some two-bit lawyer who probably bought his law degree off the internet.

To say that she was annoyed by the entire situation would have been an understatement. But... Yennefer was a professional and she simply checked her lipstick, adjusted the fall of her black blazer, and walked into the courtroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Geralt tried not to fidget in his suit. It wasn't that the suit was ill-fitted; quite the opposite, it was extremely well fitted to his form, and he knew it did exactly what it intended, projecting a sense of consummate professionalism, calmed his nervous client Mr. Lee, and showed the judge he knew exactly what he was doing.

His suit was his armour, and had served him well through his years representing the poor and the dispossessed threatened by the rich and powerful and their lawyers. The problem was that while he was confident in his case today and knew he could win on the strength of his arguments, Geralt also knew his suit would be no armour against the woman who would be arguing against him. The woman who would take his presence in the courtroom today as a personal betrayal. No well-tailored suit was going to protect him from her. He was pretty sure not even plate armour could do that.

Geralt took a deep breath, earning him a raised eyebrow from Mr. Lee, and squared his shoulders. Well, time to face the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Three hours after the judge had delivered his decision, Yennefer was still reeling, mechanically sitting at her desk, Triss watching with growing concern as she mechanically finished up her notes, and called to inform her client of the results. A simple voicemail, informing her client that the case was resolved, that Mr. Lee had agreed to the buyout but that he had also been awarded veto power over any changes made to the northeast corner of the building AND his rent would be locked in for the next 5 years after the building's renovation at a substantially below market rate. Despite Yennefer's insistence that the project could now move forward, it was clear to anyone watching her that the corporate lawyer herself saw it as a loss, a loss that shouldn't have happened, but that she had not anticipated.

Anyone who knew Yennefer knew she was absolutely furious.

Which was why, once Yennefer hung up on her client, Triss piped up cautiously. "Do you want to take a coffee break?"

And immediately wish she hadn't said a damn word when Yennefer's head snapped up, violet eyes sparking with vitriol. "Don't ever talk to me about _coffee_ again," she snapped. "I've got work to do."

Triss swallowed back a squeak and nodded, slipping out of the office. She had no idea why her senior was as pissed as she was (in fact, this was easily the worst mood she'd ever seen Yennefer in, up to and including the time a client had purposely splashed coffee on Yennefer's snakeskin Louboutins), but figured the coffee couldn't hurt, despite Yennefer's words, and scurried downstairs. With luck, maybe the cute barista would be able to make Yennefer's coffee the way she liked it and she'd just... calm down a little before Triss actually wet herself in fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone else would have taken the rest of the day off. Any other lawyer who had just won a case against a significantly better funded law firm would have taken his win and sent off his final bill and taken the day off. Geralt was not anyone else. He had won, but he was not one to rest on his laurels. He also knew that he was not going to be paid anything near what he would need to take the day off. Mr. Lee, after all, was running a martial arts school in an area slated for gentrification.

So Geralt didn't take the day off, simply shook Mr. Lee's hand and went home to change out of his suit and into his uniform. He did, after all, have the usual afternoon shift at Starbucks.

Never mind that Yennefer had looked shocked, betrayed, and enraged throughout the hearing. Never mind that despite the daggers she glared at him the entire time he had seen the way her lips had thinned when he'd won, the way she'd forced her shoulders back as she walked out of that room. She'd been hurt by the revelation that he'd been the defending lawyer, hurt and betrayed, and he doubted he'd ever see her again, regardless of whether he kept his afternoon shift.

But a steady paycheck was a steady paycheck, so Geralt tied his hair back in the staff room, slung on his apron, and headed out to the front, trying to ignore the disappointed tug in his gut as the door opened, and it was not the now-familiar fiery dark haired woman who crossed the threshold.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The barista looked up when Triss walked in, but his disappointment at the sight of her was obvious. Triss ran a hand through her chestnut hair and took a deep breath before hurrying over to the counter. A surreptitious glance at the barista's nametag confirmed her suspicions, and Triss offered him a wide, apologetic smile. "Geralt, right?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow at her, expectant, and Triss resisted the urge to giggle nervously. Yep, she could see how this guy had gotten Yennefer to start taking regular breaks. "A grande flat white please? The exact way you make it for the terrifying lawyer would be _great_."

Geralt the barista blinked in surprise, then nodded and took a cup from the stack, scrawling an order on it. "This for Yen?" he asked, and Triss stared at him blankly for a moment before she realized that he meant Yennefer, a woman whom she both respected so much and was so utterly terrified of that the idea that she could go by a nickname as casual as 'Yen' never once crossed Triss' mind.

"Mmhmm," Triss answered with an enthusiastic nod and nervous chatter. "Yennefer's just been so busy today that she's practically chained to her desk. Court days, you know? Told her I would come down and get her usual for her so she could finish up." Triss was so busy explaining that she missed the wince that the words 'court days' provoked from Geralt, though he nodded, scrawled the name on the cup, and took Triss' credit card without another word.

Five minutes later, the flat white was warm in her hand, and Triss scurried back across the street, hoping the offering in her hand would calm her boss down. Or at least ensure she wasn't going to have to clean up another broken vase or three.


End file.
